Intro
Are you a rabbi or spiritual leader innovating from inside an established organization?
We invite you to apply for Atra’s Builders from the Inside Fellowship. Read on for background, eligibility, and application instructions. Use the “Notify me” button above if you’d like us to contact you when applications open for next year.
Builders from the Inside: בונים מבפנים is a new, 10-month fellowship for Jewish spiritual leaders of all denominations who are creating new communal solutions to old problems within established organizational contexts.
Fellows are keenly aware of the evolving needs of their communities and are seeking to respond in adaptive and creative ways to expand their reach and transform their local contexts. Through a 10-month practicum and didactic workshops with Atra faculty, staff, and invited experts, fellows learn the critical skills to innovate from the inside.
What’s Involved
As part of established organizations, Fellows will identify a particular challenge or need that they would like to address in order to increase their organization’s capacity for adapting to evolving needs and ever-changing circumstances.
Through online workshops, coaching, mentorship, and a community of practice, these fellows will consider and practice:
- Relational recruitment and ongoing engagement pipeline practices
- Vision: So what and why?
- Strategic use of self
- Management for spiritual innovators
- User experience
- Techniques to treat and prevent compassion fatigue and burnout
In addition to top-notch training, Atra will provide fellows with:
- Individualized coaching
- A supportive community of practice of like-minded, high-achieving peers
- A platform to write and increase visibility
- Mentorship from industry leaders in a variety of relevant fields
Through its two flagship Fellowship programs, Atra has trained 59 Jewish clergy in the past 8 years. These clergy have gone on to lead or start new communities and projects across the world.
Get to know our inaugural cohort of בונים/Builders, as well as alumni of our other fellowships.
Program Dates
Attendance at seminars and workshops is a requirement of participation, however Atra is committed to making reasonable accommodations for participants with disabilities or special needs. Should you be accepted to the Fellowship, we will work with you to ensure your learning needs are met and that you will be able to participate fully.
Workshops: Zoom workshops will take place on the following dates:
- Tuesday, January 9, 2024, 1-4pm ET – Virtual Orientation
- Tuesday, January 23, 2024, 1-4pm ET
- Tuesday, February 27, 1-4pm ET
- Tuesday, March 12, 1-4pm ET
- Tuesday, April 9, 1-4pm ET
- Tuesday, May 7, 1-4pm ET
- Tuesday, July 9, 1-4pm ET
- Tuesday, August 6, 1-4pm ET
June 3-5, 2024
Mid-year Seminar (in-person, New York City)
September 3, 2024
Siyyum (In-person, Location TBD)
Coaching
6 coaching sessions, scheduled by Coaches and Fellows independently
Eligibility
- Applicants must be ordained (or equivalent) or in their last two years of rabbinical school
- Applicants must have salaried position within an established organization under whose auspices they will launch their project; Current seminary students interested in applying must be employed somewhere they plan to remain after ordination
- All applicants must have conceived of a project in its early stages, and/or have a clearly defined target audience.
- Projects must work to expand relationship-driven Jewish community within an existing organization
- Fellows must have:
- Support of supervisor and key stakeholder(s) including commitment to the hours spent creating and developing the program, and participating in 1 meeting with the Program Facilitator
- A commitment of $2,500 in institutional resources towards the project
If you have questions about your eligibility, email us at shalom@atrarabbis.org.
Expectations
Fellows commit to participating fully and open-heartedly as part of a diverse pluralistic cohort of clergy. All will be encouraged to use both their minds and hearts — their intellect and personal experience — in our work together. Fellows are expected to dedicate significant time and energy towards completing guided projects that further their initiative.
All costs associated with participation are fully subsidized by Atra, made possible through the generous support of our donors.